Another Spectrum

Personal ramblings and rants of a somewhat twisted mind

Tag Archives: elections


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Why Are NZ Elections So… Normal?

A warm, mildly puzzled Kiwi look at why America still votes like it’s 1845

Every few years, New Zealanders wander down to the local school hall, grab a sausage, tick a couple of boxes, and get on with their Saturday. It’s all very… calm. Efficient. Almost suspiciously straightforward.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific, millions of Americans prepare for what looks less like a civic duty and more like a logistical obstacle course. Long queues. Weekday voting. Ballots longer than a Tolstoy chapter. Rules that change when you cross a county line.

And in 2026, our two countries will be holding elections within weeks of each other — which makes the contrast even more striking.

So, as a friendly Kiwi observer, I can’t help but ask: Why hasn’t America modernised its voting system to make life easier for voters?

Not in a judgmental way. More in a “Do you need a hand with that?” way.

(And as always: readers should confirm details with trusted official sources.)

Voting Day: Saturday vs Tuesday

New Zealand votes on Saturday, because that’s when most people are free. America votes on Tuesday, because that’s when farmers in 1845 were free.

This is not satire. Congress picked Tuesday so people could:

  • go to church on Sunday
  • travel by horse on Monday
  • vote on Tuesday
  • and get back for Wednesday market day

It made perfect sense at the time. It makes slightly less sense in a world with shift work, childcare, and commuter traffic.

New Zealand quietly modernised. America… politely declined.

The Philosophy: Public Service vs Personal Responsibility

New Zealand’s approach is simple:

Voting should be easy, accessible, and non‑stressful.

The Electoral Commission runs everything. Rules are uniform. Ballots are short. Advance voting is normal. The whole system is designed around the voter.

The US approach is more like:

Voting is your civic duty. Good luck out there.

States set their own rules. Counties run their own polling places. Ballots can be dozens of items long. And if you need time off work? Well… hopefully your boss is in a good mood.

It’s not that Americans don’t care about democracy — they absolutely do. It’s just that the system is built on tradition, decentralisation, and a deep suspicion of letting the federal government run anything.

Drawing the Map: Electorates vs Districts

New Zealand electorates are drawn by an independent commission using census data, population quotas, and community boundaries. Politicians don’t get to draw their own maps.

In the US, many states let politicians draw the districts that determine their own re‑election chances. This is called gerrymandering, and it produces districts shaped like:

  • a salamander
  • a broken umbrella
  • a snake that swallowed a bowling ball

Some states have moved to independent commissions, but many haven’t. The result is a patchwork of fairness, depending on your postcode.

Campaign Spending: A Tale of Two Universes

New Zealand has:

  • strict spending caps
  • short campaign periods
  • limits on third‑party spending
  • no paid political TV or radio ads outside allocated time

America has:

  • billion‑dollar campaigns
  • Super PACs
  • “dark money” groups
  • wall‑to‑wall advertising

It’s not that one system is morally superior — they’re just built on different assumptions. NZ treats money as a potential distortion. The US treats money as political speech.

The outcomes speak for themselves.

Who Runs the Election?

New Zealand: One Electoral Commission. Uniform rules. Consistent processes. Central oversight.

United States: Thousands of local authorities. Different rules. Different machines. Different ballots. Sometimes different rules within the same state.

It’s democracy by patchwork quilt.

Local Body Elections: Our Quiet Little Side‑Quest

Just to confuse our American friends further, New Zealand runs its local body elections in completely different years from the general election — by post — and half the country forgets they’re happening until the envelope turns up under a pizza flyer.

We elect:

  • mayors
  • councillors
  • community board members

And that’s about it.

No judges. No sheriffs. No coroners. No tax assessors. And definitely no dog‑catchers.

Which brings us to…

A Note on School Boards (Because Yes, We Elect Those Too — But Not Like That)

To be fair, New Zealand does elect school boards — formerly Boards of Trustees, now simply School Boards. Parents elect parent reps, staff elect a staff rep, and in secondary schools the students elect a student rep. It happens every three years, it’s low‑key, and it’s about governance rather than ideology.

But here’s the key difference: Our school board elections are calm, local, and almost entirely drama‑free.

In the United States, school board elections can be:

  • frequent
  • highly politicised
  • fiercely contested
  • and sometimes national news

They decide curriculum battles, book bans, district boundaries, and more. In New Zealand, they decide who’s going to help the principal keep the school running smoothly and whether the playground needs resurfacing.

So yes, we elect school boards — but only one per school, every three years, and without turning it into a culture war.

Electing Judges, Sheriffs, and Dog‑Catchers

In the US, depending on the state, voters may be asked to elect:

  • judges
  • sheriffs
  • school board members
  • county clerks
  • coroners
  • tax assessors
  • and yes, historically, even dog‑catchers

This is not a criticism — it’s just a very different philosophy.

New Zealand treats these roles as professional appointments, not popularity contests. The US treats them as democratic choices, rooted in a long tradition of local control.

But from a Kiwi perspective, it’s hard not to look at a ballot with 40+ items and think:

“That’s a lot to decide before breakfast on a Tuesday.”

Voting Machines vs Paper Ballots

New Zealand votes with paper ballots and pencils, counted by actual humans in a school hall. It’s charmingly low‑tech and works beautifully. Most polling places finish their hand count within a few hours, under the watchful eyes of scrutineers who know exactly how many ticks should be in each pile.

In the United States, depending on where you live, you might vote on:

  • a touchscreen
  • a bubble‑sheet scanned by a machine
  • a ballot‑marking device
  • or a mail‑in ballot that goes through signature‑verification software

Machines help with scale — the US has more voters than we have sheep — but they also add complexity, cost, and the occasional conspiracy theory.

Meanwhile, New Zealand quietly counts its paper ballots by hand and has preliminary results before Americans have finished arguing about the queue length.

“But what about the constitution?”

Here’s the irony: America has a written constitution with strong protections, but changing anything is extremely difficult in the current political climate.

New Zealand has no single written constitution — just a collection of Acts of Parliament — and even the entrenched bits could theoretically be un‑entrenched by a simple majority.

Yet somehow, the NZ system is:

  • more stable
  • more trusted
  • more consistent
  • and more voter‑friendly

It’s one of those delightful Kiwi contradictions: We have a constitution you can change with a shrug… and an electoral system nobody wants to change.

So why hasn’t America modernised?

A few reasons:

  • Tradition — “We’ve always done it this way.”
  • State autonomy — each state guards its rules fiercely.
  • Partisanship — any change is viewed through a “who benefits?” lens.
  • Constitutional inertia — reform requires broad agreement, which is rare.
  • Scale — running a national election for 160+ million voters is hard.

But from a Kiwi perspective, it’s still hard not to look at the queues, the weekday voting, the ballot complexity, and the spending arms race and think:

“Mate… there has to be an easier way.”

A friendly Kiwi conclusion

New Zealand’s electoral system isn’t perfect — no system is — but it’s built around a simple idea: Make voting easy, fair, and boring.

America’s system is built around a different idea: Protect tradition, decentralisation, and state autonomy — even if it makes voting harder.

Both approaches reflect their histories. But only one of them requires a packed lunch and a folding chair.


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A Kiwi’s Guide to Bureaucracy (Spoiler: It’s Easy)

Every so often I read about the heroic, borderline‑mythical quest my American blogging friends undertake just to get a passport or an ID that will let them vote. There are dragons with softer entry requirements.

Meanwhile, here in New Zealand, the process goes something like this:

Step 1: Be an NZ citizen. Prove it by providing your name and date of birth. That’s it. No scrolls, no notarised parchments, no grandmother’s maiden name, no DNA sample from your childhood teddy bear.

Step 2: Get a photo. Ask a mate. Ask your neighbour. Ask the cat if it has steady paws. As long as the photo is a .jpg and vaguely resembles you, we’re off to the races.

Step 3: Provide your height, eye colour, and gender. No evidence required. If you say you’re 6’4”, the Department of Internal Affairs will simply believe you, because this is New Zealand and trust is our default setting.

Step 4: Find a referee. Anyone who isn’t a close relative and can confirm you’re not three possums in a trench coat.

Step 5: Pay the fee, click submit, and wait for the courier. Your passport will arrive before you’ve even finished telling your friends you applied for one.

And voting? Even easier.

Turn up. That’s basically the whole instruction manual. If you’re not on the roll, they’ll pop you on it right there. If you need to sit down, someone will fetch a chair. If you look confused, someone will gently shepherd you toward the right table like a slightly lost but well‑meaning sheep.

I know it’s a bit more complicated than that — but only a bit. So to my American friends: this is a gentle poke, not a jab. You put up with queues, paperwork, ID rules, and election days held when people are at work. We admire your perseverance. Truly.

But if you ever want a holiday where voting and passports don’t require a quest log, you know where to find us.


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American democracy at a crossroad

Let’s talk about democracy in America, or rather, the concerns that are surfacing about its current state. Harvard Kennedy School’s own Professors Alex Keyssar and Archon Fung have been vocal about their worries. They’re seeing signs that the U.S. political system, once a beacon of democratic principles, might be veering off course. The fear? America could be heading towards a period of political turmoil, or worse, a situation where a minority could effectively call the shots.

The compromises that once made it possible for a diverse nation to find common ground are now showing cracks. These aren’t just minor issues; they’re potentially fatal flaws that could lead to minority rule. And it seems the Republican Party’s relentless quest for power is only accelerating this process, chipping away at the very foundation of democracy all Americans once agreed upon.

Now, let’s add some global context. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index doesn’t paint a rosy picture either. It places the U.S. in the ‘flawed democracy’ category. Yep, you heard that right. Out of 167 countries, America sits at 26th, nestled between Chile and Estonia. This ranking isn’t just about how America votes; it’s about how the government functions, how much Americans participate politically, their political culture, and their civil liberties.

So, what does all this mean? It’s a wake-up call for some serious soul-searching and reform. With the 2024 presidential election on the horizon, it shouldn’t just be academics who are concerned

From across the Pacific, we in New Zealand watch with concern as the beacon of democracy that once was the United States seems to dim. It’s a poignant reminder that no democracy is immune to the challenges of time and change. The US, once a model for many, now finds itself grappling with the realities of a flawed democracy. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

To our American friends, the call is clear: it’s time to reignite the democratic spirit that has long defined your nation. Each vote, each voice, and each act of civic engagement is a step away from the shadows of authoritarianism and towards the light of true democratic governance. This isn’t just about one election; it’s about reshaping the fabric of your society for generations to come.

So, I urge you, the people of America, to draw upon your rich history of democracy. Reflect on the principles that have guided you and take action to ensure they are not merely relics of the past. Your commitment to democracy can be a commitment to the world, a signal that the values of freedom and fairness are alive and well. Let’s see America not just participate in democracy, but be a living, healthy example once more.


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Voting rights

What is it with America’s current obsession with restricting voter eligibility as well as making the actual act of voting more difficult? To me and most Kiwi’s that is the antithesis of what democracy is all about. And might I add that their obsession with non-citizens voting seems to be little short of xenophobia. For a nation built by immigrants this seems highly hypocritical. Admittedly most nations restrict voting rights to citizens, but the US seems to have taken it more to heart than almost anywhere else.

New Zealand is one of a few nations in the world that grants voting rights to non-citizens in national elections and referendums. I can find only four countries (New Zealand, Malawi, Uruguay, and Chile) that allow permanent residents to vote in national elections without any restrictions. New Zealand is the most inclusive of these four, as it requires only one year of residence for permanent residents to be eligible to vote. In contrast, Malawi requires seven years, Uruguay requires five years, and Chile requires five years and a special oath.

New Zealand’s liberal approach to voting rights for non-citizens reflects its history of immigration and its commitment to democratic values. New Zealand has been granting voting rights to non-citizens since 1853, when it allowed British subjects to vote without any residence requirement. Over time, the eligibility criteria have changed to include non-British subjects and to introduce a minimum residence requirement, but the principle of extending voting rights to non-citizens has remained. New Zealand’s electoral laws also recognised the impact of the pandemic on international travel, and temporarily extended the overseas voting eligibility for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents for the 2023 General Election.

Consider this: 14% of American residents were born overseas, and a little over 6% of American residents are non-citizens. The same figures for New Zealand are 28% and 11% respectively. If extending voting rights to non-citizens had a negative impact on the well being of a nation, doesn’t it seem probable that any harm it might cause would have become apparent in this country before now?

New Zealand’s experience with non-citizen voting has been largely positive, as it has contributed to the integration and participation of immigrants in the political community. Non-citizen voters tend to have similar preferences and behaviours as citizen voters, and do not pose a threat to the national identity or interests of New Zealand. Non-citizen voting also enhances the representation and diversity of the electorate, and encourages the responsiveness and accountability of the government to the needs and concerns of all residents. Shouldn’t that be at the heart of good government everywhere?


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Bird of the century

New Zealand is a country known for its stunning natural beauty, its friendly people, and its love of birds. The nation has more than 200 native bird species, 90% of which are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these birds are so iconic that they appear on the country’s currency, such as the kiwi, the tui, and the kōkako.

But not all birds are created equal, and every year, New Zealanders get to vote for their favourite feathered friend in the Bird of the Year competition, organised by Forest & Bird, a conservation organisation. The competition aims to raise awareness of the threats facing New Zealand’s wildlife and to celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of its avian inhabitants.

However, the competition is not as innocent as it sounds. It is rife with drama, scandal, and controversy, as different birds vie for the coveted title and the public attention that comes with it. Over the years, the competition has seen cases of voter fraud, disqualifications, and even foreign interference.

One of the most notorious incidents occurred in 2017, when the kea, the world’s only alpine parrot, won the competition after a massive surge of votes from overseas. The kea is a playful and intelligent bird, but also a notorious troublemaker, known for stealing food, damaging cars, and attacking sheep. Some suspected that the kea’s victory was influenced by a campaign by the comedian Stephen Fry, who had featured the kea in his documentary series Last Chance to See. Fry had praised the kea as “the most wonderful, playful, mischievous, intelligent, cheeky, curious, extraordinary bird” and urged his followers to vote for it.

Another controversial winner was the pekapeka-tou-roa, or the long-tailed bat, which won the competition in 2021. The bat is not technically a bird, but it is one of New Zealand’s only two native land mammals (the other also being a bat), and it is critically endangered. The bat’s inclusion in the competition was meant to highlight its plight and its connection to the bird family, as the word for bird in Māori, one of the official languages of New Zealand, is ‘manu’, which means ‘flying creature’. However, some people were outraged by the bat’s victory, calling it a “total farce” and saying that the country had gone “batty”.

This year’s of the competition, is even more contentious, as it has been renamed the Bird of the Century, to mark the 100th anniversary of Forest & Bird. The stakes are higher than ever, as the winner would not only be the Bird of the Year, but also the Bird of the Century, representing the best of New Zealand’s birds from the last 100 years.

The competition has attracted the attention of John Oliver, a British-American comedian and talk show host, who has a history of poking fun at New Zealand’s politics and culture. Oliver decided to launch an “alarmingly aggressive” global campaign to support his chosen candidate, the pūteketeke, or the Australasian crested grebe. The grebe is a rare and elegant waterbird, with a distinctive black and white crest and a red eye. Oliver described it as “a bird that looks like Pauly D fucked a swan”, referring to a reality TV star known for his spiky hair.

Oliver’s campaign included billboards, neon signs, posters, and banners in various cities around the world, such as Paris, Tokyo, London, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro, urging people to vote for the grebe. He also commissioned a giant mechanized grebe that could move its head and wings, and placed it outside the New Zealand embassy in Washington, D.C. Oliver encouraged his viewers to flood the Forest & Bird website with votes for the grebe, saying that “this is what democracy is all about – America interfering in foreign elections”.

Oliver’s intervention caused a surge of votes for the grebe, but also a backlash from some New Zealanders, who accused him of meddling in their affairs and disrespecting their birds. Some even suggested that Oliver should be banned from entering the country, or that he should be forced to apologize to the former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, who is a well-known bird lover and a former campaign manager for the hihi, or stitchbird, in the 2017 competition.

The final result of the Bird of the Century competition is yet to be announced, but it is expected to be a close race between the grebe and some of the other popular contenders, such as the kākāpō, the world’s fattest parrot; the tītipounamu, New Zealand’s smallest bird; and the kōkako, a blue-grey songbird with a haunting call. Whoever wins, the competition has once again shown that New Zealanders are passionate about their birds, and that their birds are worthy of global attention and admiration.

So, if you are an American who loves birds, or who just likes to mess with other countries’ elections, why not join John Oliver’s campaign and cast your vote for the pūteketeke, the Bird of the Century? You only need a valid email address, and you can vote as many times as you want. After all, it’s not like you have anything better to do, right? And who knows, maybe you will help make history, or at least make a lot of New Zealanders very angry. Either way, it’s a win-win situation. So go ahead, vote for the grebe, and let the world hear your voice. Or rather, your squawk.


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Voted!

Election Day is on 14 October 2023 but votes were able to be cast as from yesterday, 2 October. As the Wife and I had some errands and shopping to do today, we kept an eye out for a voting place and as we neared the Civic Centre building, We spotted the bright orange “VOTE HERE / PŌTI I KONEI” signs, so I found a parking space nearby and we walked in. From the time we saw the signs to the time we drove off was less than five minutes. I joined a queue of one other person, the Wife another queue of one person to collect a voting paper, and after stating my name and address, was handed my voting paper. No voter ID and no proof of identity required.

With voting paper in hand, it was just a matter of going behind one of the screens and placing a tick beside one of the 5 candidates standing for the Rangitikei electorate and a tick beside one of the 19 political parties eligible for seats in the next Parliament and then placing the folded paper into the ballot box. It’s so quick and easy, that I don’t understand why we don’t have higher voter turnout. In the 2020 general election it was 82.2% of enrolled voters, which just isn’t high enough.


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No ID needed to vote – or enrol – in New Zealand

As a number of my American blogging friends have concerns about how some US states are making it difficult to register and vote, I thought it timely to look at the situation in another developed nation, where post election inquiry after post election inquiry have concluded the risks of voter personation (voter fraud) are far outweighed by the advantages of voter participation when enrolling and voting are made as easy and unrestricted as is humanly possible.

So here in Aotearoa, the Electoral Commission trusts our word when we enrol and when we vote, and it seems they have good reason to as fewer than 200 cases of voter personation have been detected following a general election. While the police have issued warnings to offenders, no prosecutions were brought following the 2014, 2017 and 2020 elections.

Here’s the thing: voter personation is so rare that even if it increased by two orders of magnitude it’s unlikely to have any effect on election results. So why not make enrolment and voting very easy, even if a very few do abuse the privilege? Participation in the democratic process, including by the disadvantaged, or perhaps especially for and by the disadvantaged, is vital if a nation is to maintain or expand the freedoms and wellbeing of its citizens. More than one Kiwi politician has stated they entered politics on behalf of the marginalised, discriminated against, oppressed and forgotten because the privileged and advantaged can take care of themselves.

Even in moments of my least trust in American democracy, I cannot imagine American voters being so untrustworthy that voter fraud can have any meaningful effect on the outcome of presidential and congressional elections – even if fraud occurred at 100 times the rate of personation here. The only conclusion I can draw, is, that unlike New Zealand where the politicians want everyone to participate in the democratic process, the politicians in many US states want only those who are their supporters to participate. How close to reality is my conclusion?

No ID needed to vote – or enrol – in New Zealand


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Vote NZ 2023 (PSA #2) How to vote

We Kiwis are perhaps fortunate in that being able to enrol and vote in elections and referendums is easy as. In fact there’s no need to prove identification to do either! (I’ll cover that in an upcoming blog post.)

When it comes to enrolling, then if you’re eligible (NZ citizen or permanent resident and are over 18 and have lived in NZ continuously for 12 months at some time), then by law you are required to enrol. See my previous post on how to do that. However, you can choose whether or not to vote. You can enrol right up to the day before election day. And if you aren’t enrolled and still wish to vote, you still can by casting a special vote.

I want to remind you that it isn’t necessary to cast your vote at a voting place in your electorate. You can vote at any voting place anywhere in Aotearoa either on election day or in the two weeks preceding election day. As I said, easy as!

How to vote


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Vote NZ 2023 (PSA #1) How to enrol

Barry’s Public Service Announcement #1.

To use the Kiwi vernacular, enrolling to vote is easy as! So, if you’re a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident of New Zealand, make sure you are enrolled.

How to enrol to vote (Turn on Closed Captions if you the the Kiwi Accent difficult to understand)

The 2023 New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of Aotearoa will be held on Saturday, 14 October 2023. The Electoral Commission has confirmed the timetable for the election following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the election date. The key dates for the election are as follows:

  • Friday 14 July: Regulated period for election advertising expenses begins
  • Friday 8 September: Dissolution of Parliament
  • Sunday 10 September: Writ Day – the Governor General issues formal direction to the Electoral Commission to hold the election
  • Noon, Friday 15 September: Nominations close for candidates
  • Wednesday 27 September: Overseas voting starts
  • Monday 2 October: Advance voting starts
  • Friday 13 October: Advance voting ends. Regulated period ends. All election advertising must end. Signs must be taken down by midnight.
  • Saturday 14 October: Election day. Voting places open from 9.00am to 7.00pm. Election night. Preliminary election results released progressively from 7.00pm as counting at each voting place is completed.
  • Friday 3 November: Official results for the 2023 General Election declared
  • Thursday 9 November: Last day for the return of the writ
  • At the election, you’ll get to vote for the parties and candidates you want to represent you in Parliament. You need to be enrolled to vote in the election. To enrol and vote, you must:
    • be 18 years or older
    • be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
    • have lived in New Zealand for 12 months or more continuously at some time in your life.
  • If you enrol by Sunday 10 September, the Electoral Commission will send you information about the election in the mail. This will include an EasyVote card which makes voting easier

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